Former colonial spaces and buildings within Yangon's financial district continue to exist through the communities who occupy them. The act of inhabiting a place encompasses a wider meaning; not merely occupying, but offering a soul to buildings of a troubled past.

Despite the rapid social and economic transformations taking place, it is the residents that keep alive these structures. Crumbling and weather worn Victorian and Edwardian era buildings, each with their own distinct histories, remain a hub of activity. Families who have resided in these buildings for several generations inhabit the upper floors, while small bureaucratic offices operate on the lower floors. Life in and around the court houses, post offices and bank buildings remains relatively unchanged from decades before. Modernity hasn’t fully entered these spaces to change the fabric of the buildings or the habits of the occupants.

The walls and windows of this district have bared witness to dark moments in recent history and although these streets and buildings were built by and for the British, over time they have become an integral part of the foundations of contemporary society.

Today, these spaces and structures illustrate the immense complexity of finding a sense of place in this quickly changing metropolis.